Overpopulation is a very large problem, and it is only a matter of time before it stats to seriously affect
us on a global scale.At the moment, for those of us living in the developed
world, overpopulation is a problem, but it is not seriously life threatening. However, it will continue to spread until it
affects us just as much as in the developing world.Based on the rate that the
population has been rising in the last few years, it is expected that by 2025 the world’s population is going to reachBased on the rate that the population has been rising in the last few years,
it is expected that by 2025 the world’s population is going to reach 8 billion.As of right now, we are somewhat holding overpopulation at bay by using more advanced technologies to help the land
yield more food.However, what will happen when the land can no longer yield
food regardless of our technology?Overpopulation might degrade our environment
to a point where it can no longer support human life.It is possible that wars
may break out over the remaining necessities of life.Unless a way to stop overpopulation
is found, it could very well be the “Plague of the 21st century”.

Are there any positive outlooks on overpopulation?

There are many views on overpopulation, and not all of them are negative.Some scientists argue that overpopulation is nature’s way of controlling out population.Their point of view is that when we reach a point when our planet is overpopulated, starvation will set
in and our population will be reduced back down to a manageable number.However,
many people see this as a very morbid and cruel way to look at overpopulation.Some
other professionals say that because of our alternative technologies, there is no problem with overpopulation at the moment.Others acknowledge that there is a problem, but claim that we already have the resources
and ability to stop it.They say that eat the moment there is enough food to
support the entire population if the food was distributed evenly.In the past
it used to take 650 000 metres sq to feed 1 person, but with the advanced farming technologies we enjoy today, as little as
15 m sq of farm land can feed a full grown adult.A common counter argument to
this is that the land may be able to support our population with the technologies we have at the moment, but what will happen
when the land no longer has the ability to support us regardless of our technologies?If that were to happen we’d be facing mass starvation and there would be no way to produce enough food for us
to survive.The only way the land will be able to produce food again will be
if we farm it until it is no longer useful and then leave it alone for a while so that the soil can once again become fertile.

Who can stop overpopulation and how can it be done?

To stop overpopulation,
there must be some form of technological advancement in farming. It is impossible to stop overpopulation completely, because
that would require forcing every individual to only have a certain amount of children, and things like that can not always
be controlled.

One way of stopping overpopulation is to increase
our food supplies enough to sustain the whole population. This can be achieved with intensification. Intensification is becoming
a more attainable goal because of new crops called high yield varieties (HYV). These crops give a bigger harvest than other
plants that use the same farming area.

Although HYV foods are becoming better and easier
to farm, many countries in Africa
still do not have access to them. People who have just suffered natural disasters are also too poor to buy enough food. To
stop this problem, emergency food supplies are being deployed to help feed the hungry.

Another type of food aid is economic food aid.
Economic food aid is the process when food is given to governments to sell and help pay of debts that are holding the country
back.

Although all these ways help stabilize the amount
of food given to each country, the populous will continue growing at an exponentially faster rate over time. Although we hate
to see fellow humans suffering, we may have to accept the fact that our planet is not able to support such a large amount
of people. By fighting off disease, and increasing life expectancies, the population is becoming bigger and bigger by the
second. We may have to accept the fact that people need to die, or the planet will collapse, taking all of man kind with it.

Stopping overpopulation is a difficult conundrum.
Do we save as many people as we can now and possibly suffer for it later, or do we heartlessly forget about all the dying
people in Africa and other places, and keep our population low? There is no way to know for
sure, but we need to decide soon, or it may be too late.